The tool
What are dating apps really costing you?
The apps quote a tempting weekly price. They don't advertise the boosts, the months that add up, or the gap between “£10.49/week” and what hits your card. Add it up honestly below — it stays on your device.
Your dating-app spend
Deterministic, private maths — nothing leaves your device unless you choose to share it.
Apps & tiers you pay for
What it's really costing you
Per month
$24.99
Over 6 months
$149.94
Cost per date you actually go on
$24.99
About $24.99 per date — on the lower end, but check you'd not get the same on the free tier.
Honest caveat: the evidence that paying actually gets you more or better matches is weak and disputed — analyses suggest heavy spenders match no better than people on the free tier, and the relationship is correlational, not proven. Treat the subscription as buying convenience, not outcomes.
5 pricing tactics on your apps
- Tinder — Age-based pricing: Charged users 29+ more than under-29s for the same features — $60.5M Candelore settlement (preliminary approval 2026).
- Tinder — Personalized pricing: Prices vary by age, location and test cohort; Mozilla found Tinder Plus could cost up to 5× more for the same service.
- Tinder — Weekly framing: Weekly rates ($12.99–$24.99/wk) anchor the price; the true monthly cost is 2–2.5× the monthly plan.
- Tinder — Core feature paywalled: “See Who Likes You” is gated behind Gold.
- Tinder — Microtransaction funnel: Boost / Super Boost / Super Like packs sold on top of the subscription.
Anonymous. No email, no account — ever.
The numbers behind the tool
- Overall gender split: ~65% men / 35% women
- Cost per date (Hinge, US): ~$9.83 men · $3.61 women (best value of the majors)
- Cost per date (Tinder Platinum, US): ~$19.77 men · $8.06 women
- Match Group revenue (FY2025): $3.49B — flat YoY, propped up by +5% revenue-per-payer against −5% payers
- Does paying for Super Likes help?: CONTESTED — heavy spenders matched no better than non-payers (single-source, correlational). Treat as “no proven benefit.” (disputed — read with caution)
Prices are A/B-tested snapshots (observed 2026-06-06) from the apps' own pricing/App-Store listings — see methodology. App-Store-sourced rows are primary; secondary rows are flagged.
Embed this calculator
Free to embed. Copy the snippet (it includes a credit link back to us):
<iframe src="https://thedatingacademy.com/embed/cost-calculator" width="100%" height="900" style="border:0" title="Dating-app cost calculator"></iframe>
<p>Calculator by <a href="https://thedatingacademy.com/cost-calculator">The Dating Academy</a></p>Want the honest verdict on each app?
Our plain-English breakdown of which tiers are worth paying for — and which to skip.